I slept very, very late today. (Making up for not sleeping the night before and not napping during the day yesterday!) When I got up, Marilyn and I decided to try going to a holiday bazaar. There was one in Gladstone, Oregon, at the high school there, so we headed off (it was getting late, and we didn't want to miss it).

We met such LOVELY PEOPLE there. We bought a few things, including a vintage photo of a train that had been taken by the uncle of the elderly woman selling it. Her nephew had restored all these photos and printed then matted them. She was a delight to talk to!

We also got some lovely potholders from this sweet, elderly woman who was so proud of the work she'd done making them...

Before leaving home I did my blood sugar and insulin -- I started a new pen with a new brand of insulin today. (It was more painful to inject for whatever reason...) But there's MORE TO COME regarding my insulin!

On the way home from the bazaar, Marilyn and I headed to pick up my prescriptions. This didn't go all that well, I'm afraid. It turns out my insurance won't cover insulin in a pen -- I'll need to use the old-fashioned syringe (needle) with a vial of insulin -- just like my parents both used to use. Worse yet, apparently my insurance will not cover the cost of the syringes to inject the insulin. (The cost of one box is around $40. And we just had to buy the needles for the pens that wasn't covered, which was more than $50 -- I still have a lot of those left!)

I lost it a bit at the pharmacy, but the two people there were WONDERFUL with both of us. Very calm and reasonable and attempting to be helpful.

I feel somebody dropped the ball on this, but it wasn't the pharmacy, or us. I'll have to contact my primary care person (or her assistant) this coming week and try to work it all out.

It was a shock to realize I might have to mess with vials of insulin and needles after all. Ironically enough, as I gave myself the injection from the pen today, I was thinking how lucky I was to have a pen to use, unlike Mom and Dad. Marilyn wants me to find out how expensive it would be to buy the pen outright, without insurance, so I'll do that. But I don't want us to have to pay a fortune for something that I can get covered in a different form. Of course, we'll have to pay one way or another, with the syringes not being covered. How does that even make sense??? I know my insurance always insists on the least expensive option (I've had a lot of denials in the past on things prescribed for me). But to NOT cover needles to inject medication with? That seems crazy to me. I mean, what if I just didn't HAVE the money to buy these?

I'm going to have to suggest to Leslie that I go back on oral meds exclusively due to lack of coverage. I know she won't like that, as my kidney function is BAD right now. (Only 1/4 functioning in a very short time on the heavy dose of Metformin.) But this is a cluster-f, frankly...

I was upset today. Partly because I was dealing with yet another new med (the NEW insulin), and partly because this seems like such a mess. Plus it's going to cost us a bunch of money. I've been trying very hard to be GOOD about the whole insulin thing. But it was an emotional thing.

Marilyn does NOT want me to talk (or write) about her health. But her situation is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to deal with, as well. I won't go into more details, but the fact that she can't eat or drink most of the time (even though she's hungry and thirsty) is very hard. In fact, I personally find it horrible.

Anyway, we agreed that we're going to get through our health issues somehow. AND NOT LET THEM GET US DOWN. We're very, very positive people and always have been. And that's how we plan to remain, no matter what.

In the meantime, you all know I say there are NO totally bad days, right? (grin)

We got into comfy clothes when we got back home and I put on a pot of chili. Marilyn ate that, and I had my 'easy' version of curry noodles that I make (not at all like my full recipe -- just a top ramen noodles version).

We watched the METV shows that are on Saturdays that we love. Including "The Wild, Wild West" (!!!), which we'd never seen before this. We're HUGE fans of the series, which we used to own every single episode of on tape in the old days. And tonight they played "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" on Svengoolie!!! That's one of our all-time favorite movies from childhood!!! Marilyn and I are both HUGE fans of Abbott and Costello, by the way. Plus we LOVE all the old horror films.

We had homemade popcorn (I make the best popcorn!) and beer (Chelada) and fresh coffee and scones -- and it was just 'like a party' (as we always say).

I'm also 'forcing' myself to use the fluoride toothpaste my dentist wanted me to start using. Diabetes is hard on teeth, so Mary thinks this toothpaste could be a big help. (It's about time I did it. But it doesn't taste very good and you have to leave it on your teeth without rinsing -- so I couldn't face it while I was so sick these past months. I had enough trouble not throwing up all the time...)

Well, that's about it for today, I guess. Time to head to bed!

I hope you all sleep well and are staying very healthy. And enjoying the Halloween season! Hahaha.

Yay for Jim and Artie! I love the first season black-and-white eps (I'm not one of those people who won't watch black-and-white) and the color episodes are real feasts for the eyes as both men are pretty spectacular, especially in their Victorian clothes! :)

The Abbott and Costello movie is a fave of mine, too. I enjoy the boys' movies and they were the top box-office draw in the '40s, saving Universal from bankruptcy. Naturally I remember reading that Universal gave them the boot by the end of the decade.